Idiots on AI

[Nick Trollope]

They (the "Admin" of AI) have excelled themselves this time;

http://brittany.angloinfo.com/forum/topic.asp?topic_ID=20097&forum_ID=9&cat_ID=3&topic_Title=Ten+Thousandth+member%3F

This thread must have had at least twice as many replies as remain, and those that remain have been heavily edited. It is amazing that the owners (or franchise holders, or whatever) allow this to happen. Don't the contributors to AI resent being made out to be a bunch of brown-nosers?

Noone seems to know who "Admin" of AI is. Who is "Richard Barnes" (presumeably the Richard B of AI, who signs AI's letters) and who emails me offering to listen to complaints about "Admin" whilst warning me off from telling anyone else. I wonder why that is (and why he does not respond to the complaints). Perhaps because he is one and the same?


I appreciate that alot of (most?) LF users appear on AI, but do you approve/accept their level of censorship?

Edited to make link clickable - not altered in any other way [;)]

[bizzy]

 What gets me is the threats of legal action they love sending in their emails

normally over something so trivial & inoffensive that erasing it is a bit

bizarre in the first place [:D] 

[Will]

I know what you mean Nick, many people obviously like those forums but I'm afraid they are not for me. A friend has had everything she has posted on the Brittany forum deleted, while I have found much the same on the Normandy version. They all take themselves, and life, far too seriously, and seem to have a totally different mind set. They only seem to be here because they think it's cheap, while their idea of a having good time in France seems to be a curry and Man U on Sky TV in the English bar.

The inference in the thread you linked to about other forums (presumably this one) being too cliquey drew a wry smile. A little while ago somebody posted 'Ducks for sale going cheap' on the Normandy forum - I replied asking if they had any that went quack. OK, I know it was a crap joke, but didn't think it warranted deletion without even an acknowledgment from admin. Particularly after one of the AI 'clique' posted almost the same joke a few days later, and everybody thought it was really amusing.

[ChezShells]

Hi

On one of the AI forums I had my signature (http// only) removed because they said it was advertising, on another AI forum its ok!

Noticed a drop in posts on ere tho, probably people bored with the - I'm better than you and I know more than you attitude.

Oh well, we just try to plod on.

[Val_2]

Nick you took the words right out of my mouth. Never have I seen such stupid questions, things for sale and contributions in general than on there. I put a free ad on there advertising the fact I have some spare time if anyone in my area needed a cleaner or someone to hold keys etc and it got deleted saying I was advertising a private business. I never put any names,address or even phone number and then I see lots of others doing the same thing. I get the impression that many on that forum are just "playing" at french living by the way they try to keep everything english from fish and chip and curry eating houses to where can they get all their english food and then bemoan the fact that the locals are ignoring them, wonder why? There are also many people advertising business on there are not registered too.

[Catalpa]

[quote user="Will the Conqueror"]

A little while ago somebody posted 'Ducks for sale going cheap' on the Normandy forum - I replied asking if they had any that went quack. OK, I know it was a crap joke, but didn't think it warranted deletion without even an acknowledgment from admin. [/quote]

I know! I've posted a few light-hearted things that've been deleted - but responses to my post have been left in the thread. The lack of consistency is bizarre. I've assumed there are several Admins, they are random in their decisions and I find it distasteful that Admin is anonymous. Who or what are they scared of? 

The following is likely to get my post deleted here but - imo, they do seem to have cornered the market on the 'less desirable' British in France. There are notable exceptions of course - though I'm sure they're only there because they haven't discovered TF / LF. I think that if research was done, there'd be more users with illegal cars / companies / whatevers than participate on any of the other forums. The main reason I use the Normandy one is the Buy / Sell section. We've had some excellent bargains off people who have been - almost without exception - heading back to the UK. A secondary reason is... it's like reading a copy of a British red-top... it's fun, sometimes horrifying, to remind yourself that these sub-sub-cultures exist.

And yes, I do know already that I'm displaying a very unattractive character trait (judgemental, snobbish, whatever!)... and if a mod (with a name) feels it's OTT, please do remove the preceding paragraph. [:D] [:D] [:D] 

[Will]

Catalpa - I think that's fair comment. I think it applies even more to the Brittany forum than the Normandy one, but that's probably because it has more users and in longer established.

Not in moderator mode - what worries me about the whole set up is the way that it exists to provide information, in English, about foreign parts, and many of the fact sheets are in fact pretty good, but the forums contain so much suspect information that it devalues the whole enterprise. It was suggested at one stage that I bought the Normandy franchise (it's a centrally-run operation with regional franchises - glad I didn't.

[Catalpa]

[quote user="Will the Conqueror"]

 It was suggested at one stage that I bought the Normandy franchise (it's a centrally-run operation with regional franchises - glad I didn't.

[/quote]

Now that is really really interesting! Do AI franchise holders get the users they deserve? If you had taken on the franchise, would you have got the vienormande / LF / TF type of user – who I reckon in profile is basically law-abiding, adequately educated and living in France not to create Britain in France but to at least get to grips with a very rich culture while perhaps quite reasonably still watching some UK tv. The other ‘sort’ I have (possibly totally unfairly) tagged: the rip-off France merchants. Take all they can and give sod-all back if it can be avoided.

Or is there something in the mix – possibly the parameters under which the franchises must be run which will mean the visible users - those that post – are always a particular type?  

Because you are quite right, Will, the fact sheets are extensive, as far as I can tell they’re accurate and they’re genuinely useful. But I don’t get the impression most of the people that post there use them. If they did, half the moronic threads wouldn’t get started. Perhaps what Admin should be doing – and perhaps they do if they have their own user names – is direct people to the correct info on the site rather than accumulate a user-generated resource of mis-(or plain bad) information. I know that can be said of any site, but here, for eg, if someone posts something that's clearly incorrect, it will usually be pretty rapidly corrected by another member. [:P] 

If all the AI foums are (in our opinions!) the same, then there must be something fundamentally wrong with the operating guidelines. But I’m sure those operating guidelines don’t require the random and erratic censorship of threads – so are the Admins crafting forums in their own images?  

Too deep for a Saturday morning so I’m going to dig a flower bed.   [W]

[Christine Animal]

Furryknickers and Mrs. Animal feel at home on here.

 

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Never heard of them. I thought AI stood for Artificial Intelligence. Is

there a Vendée branch? They don't sound awfully jolly, so I think (as

long as I am allowed to continue posting irrelevant and sometimes

wildly inaccurate claptrap that is usually, albeit sometimes loosely,

connected with La vie Français) I shall be nice and parochial and stay

here.

[Ty Korrigan]

Hello, I am fascinated and yet loath the culture of A.I.

 I have long since been banned posting by the flacid member who owns the site and now post from friends computers when I want to bait the other posters there.

People seem to turn to this site instead of a dictionary or simply using their eyes judging from the quality of posts.

The number of people working on the black that post there is phenominal and waters down the value of any genuine advertising.

Although it is irritating about the double standards the owner operates when it comes to deleting postings the site is not a genuine forum where healthy debate may be encouraged but an advertising medium and so I suppose it is the owners policy to encourage the guilible and to weed out the intelligent and wise.

 I call it AngloMisinfo and look forward to recieving a letter from the owner of the site.

 

[chris pp]

AI forums are as I understand it,  moderated by the local franchise owner or someone appointed by them or someone from another AI site which I gather is often the site generated by the main franchise owner. No doubt if someone from AI reads this they will either confirm or correct this.

I have had entire threads deleted from AI without any comment or communication. One thing that I have noticed is that anything "negative" that is written about France, even if factually correct, disappears without trace.

Chris

[Ty Korrigan]

The French entree forum is another waste of space with little or nothing of any value ever debated....

[Will]

[quote user="Ty Korrigan"]The French entree forum is another waste of space with little or nothing of any value ever debated....
[/quote]

But the actual content of the French Entrée site is very useful, though you have to bear in mind that many of the articles are written by people with vested interests. To be fair, the forum is only a very small part of a much bigger resource, and I for one find it rather difficult to use and follow so don't bother with it.

Anglo Info franchisees gain their income from the sale of advertising on the site. Bearing in mind the investment involved in buying into the franchise, and the time and expense involved in both selling advertising and running the forum and other regional sections of the site, I couldn't see the likely revenue covering the amount of work needed. Still, some people seem to make a success of it.

Back in moderator mode, can contributors to this topic please ensure that comments about other sites remain constructive. There's nothing wrong with comparisons and considered criticism, but we will not allow rubbishing of other sites and forums.

 

[The Riff-Raff Element]

I have answered my own question. The Vendée is lumped in with

Poitou-Charentes, which I suppose is geographically reasonable, though

might have some people foaming at the mouth. Constructively....I can't

say I think much of it, though there do seem to be some interesting

classified ads on it. I've often thought that a "small ads" section on

this site might be quite a good idea...paid for, naturally.

[peebee]

[quote user="jond"]Never heard of them. I thought AI stood for Artificial Intelligence. [/quote]

When I saw the title of this post.  I thought it was the A1 that I travel down on my way down to the Channel Tunnel and thought to myself hmmmmm, yes there are a load of idiots on the A1............ooops

[Ron Avery]

[quote user="Ty Korrigan"]The French entree forum is another waste of space with little or nothing of any value ever debated....
[/quote]

I would agree with Will, TK, French Entree is not a waste of time it has quite useful information and is often referred to on here in relation to Health questions.  I don't think the number of postings on here has dropped that much, if it has perhaps its a reflection of the reduced interest in moving to France, the success and accuracy of the FAQ section on here and people doing a search before posting questions. One thing that bugs me on here is when you spend a lot of time finding answers to a question and post it, there is no response or even an acknowledgement from the original poster[^o)]

[Miki]

Ron said :

........... One thing that bugs me on

here is when you spend a lot of time finding answers to a question

and post it, there is no response or even an acknowkledgement

from the original poster.

Ron,

That is something that grates with many people, there is a certain

thread going on now, that should  really help the original poster,

they have had several replies to their question but not one

acknowledgement. Allow perhaps that the person has been away perhapsbut

no, he is found asking elsewhere as recent as yesterday.

It is not just on here though, in everyday life there are an increasing

number that simply take, take, take and now come to expect help at every turn. I

remember in our early days here, an ex-pat couple living near by, when asked

where something or another could be found,  saying to us "we know nothing" I thought how strange but it didn't take long until the franc dropped !!

We have had posts on here about it all, even being told by some folks

on how we must post to those people and how they should be informed

correctly....wouldn't mind some of the poppy back that we spent out on

in the early years and, subsequent costly experience finding it all out

though !!

[Patmobile]

[quote user="jond"]Never heard of them. I thought AI stood for Artificial Intelligence.

[/quote]

I thought it stood for Artificial Insemination

Patrick

[Dick Smith]

At least they don't ban you for posting a picture of a kitten...

[Catalpa]

[quote user="Miki"]Ron said :

........... One thing that bugs me on here is when you spend a lot of time finding answers to a question and post it, there is no response or even an acknowkledgement from the original poster.

Ron,

<snip>
It is not just on here though, in everyday life there are an increasing number that simply take, take, take and now come to expect help at every turn. >

[/quote]

I think posting a casual question is too quick and easy - so the effort some people put into their response isn't understood or valued, hence the lack of an acknowledgement. The only way to contribute help or advice on these forums is to assume there will be no acknowledgement and be pleasantly surprised when there is.

 

French Entree to me feels like a sort of French Property News online - I think it is run on very commercial lines - ukgrapevine.com recently said on their site that they were no longer linked from French Entree as the fees were too high (I'm paraphrasing from memory and laziness). In that instance, it would seem to be FE's loss.

Finally, re AI again, an extreme irritant that I've only just remembered is the regular deletion of any post that recommends information that may be found on, for eg, this forum or TF. As I frequent all three, I often see an AI query that can be answered by an existing thread elsewhere so I post the link. I no longer bother as it was almost always (perhaps always) deleted by the Admin there.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="Patmobile"][quote user="jond"]Never heard of them. I thought AI stood for Artificial Intelligence.

[/quote]

I thought it stood for Artificial Insemination

Patrick

[/quote]

So it does! Also:

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Aberdeen Infirmary (that's a guess)

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Who got binned for posting a kitten???

[Tony F Dordogne]

Blimey, I knew that they sold Colissimo boxes for bottles but KITTENS - surely this should be on the wildlife etc section?

[Dick Smith]

TFD - you are in a state of Saturday Evening confusion!

[Christine Animal]

You can't post kittens on AI.